What is the Fish and
Wildlife Service doing to restore the threatened Louisiana black
bear?
The Service continues to work in partnership with the BBCC to facilitate
recovery of the Louisiana black bear. The Service is providing $25,000
in Fiscal Year 2004 to support the BBCC’s Executive Director
position.
The Service, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries,
the BBCC, USDA Wildlife Services, and Louisiana State University
are implementing a project to relocate Louisiana black bear females
and their cubs to suitable unoccupied habitat in the Three Rivers/Red
River complex of east-central Louisiana. That site comprises more
than 100,000 acres of publically owned land (National Wildlife Refuge
and State Wildlife Management Areas). The purpose of that project
is to establish another breeding subpopulation between the Tensas
and Atchafalaya River Basin subpopulations to accelerate population
expansion. The project began in March 2001 when four female bears
and their cubs were released on the Red River Wildlife Management
Area. Since that time, an additional 12 female bears and their cubs
have been relocated. The Service and its partners plan to continue
the project and anticipate relocating another group of bears to
that area in 2005.
We support and are active participants the annual
Bayou Teche Bear Festival in Franklin, Louisiana. That event brings
together multiple State and Federal agencies, and private organizations
to create a learning environment at the festival that emphases awareness
of bears in the local community. In 2004, over 200 children participated
in the festival’s hands-on Educational Area. We look forward
to annually participating in upcoming festivals.
We have coordinated the preparation of landscape
maps that show the most important areas for future reforestation
to benefit the Louisiana black bear. Those maps are now used to
set priorities for programs such as our Partners for Fish and Wildlife
Program so that we achieve optimum benefits for the Louisiana black
bear.
What is the status of the Fish and Wildlife
Service’s previous proposal to designate critical habitat
for the threatened Louisiana black bear?
The Louisiana black bear was listed a threatened on February 6,
1992. Designation of critical habitat was not included with the
final listing. On December 2, 1993, the Service proposed designation
of critical habitat for the Louisiana black bear. A final rule has
not been issued.
What is the status of the Government’s efforts to clean up
the industrial contamination of the upper Calcesieu Lake estuary
of southwestern Louisiana?
The Calcasieu Estuary provides important habitat for migratory waterfowl,
shorebirds, and wading birds, and valuable nursery and feeding habitat
for numerous estuarine-dependent sport and commercial fishes and
shellfishes. The upper Calcasieu Estuary was cited as one of the
most contaminated areas in Louisiana in a June 1997 NOAA report.
Areas of greatest concern are Coon Island Loop, Bayou Verdine, and
Bayou D’Inde. The contaminants of greatest concern to Service
trust resources are hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury, copper
and lead. Consumption advisories are currently in effect for fish
and shellfish from Bayou D’Inde.
Contamination of the upper Calcasieu Estuary potentially involves
most industries in the Lake Charles petrochemical/industrial complex.
The Service has been working with EPA, NOAA, and several State agencies
to complete a Cooperative Management Agreement with the various
“Potentially Responsible Parties” to conduct a coordinated
Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study, Ecological Risk Assessment,
and Natural Resources Damage Assessment.
What is the Fish and Wildlife Service
doing to restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands?
The Service is very concerned over the ongoing loss of 24 square
miles/year of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and its effects
on nationally important waterfowl, wading bird, and seabird habitat;
sport and commercial fisheries; and 10 National Wildlife Refuges
(NWRs). We are actively involved in interagency restoration efforts
funded via the CWPPRA Task Force. Sam Hamilton of the Service’s
Southeast Regional Director represents the Secretary of the Interior
on that task force.
About $597 million in Federal (CWPPRA) and matching State funds
have been committed for coastal wetlands restoration projects in
Louisiana. The Service is implementing 20 of the projects approved
by the Task Force, as well as extensive wetland restoration and
preservation actions on several NWRs in coastal Louisiana, using
other (non-CWPPRA) funding sources. We are also a member of the
LCA Co-Location Team, working on several LCA feasibility studies
of large-scale coastal restoration measures. In FY 2004 we assisted
the Corps of Engineers in completing the LCA Near-term Plan, which
would serve as a vital first step in delivering critically needed
large-scale projects to restore Louisiana’s coastal ecosystem
over the next 10 years at a cost of $1.9 billion. We also work closely
with the Corps of Engineers to plan and implement projects to benefit
coastal wetlands through measures such as marsh creation via placement
of dredged material during maintenance of Federal navigation channels,
and re-introduction of Mississippi River flows into adjacent coastal
wetlands.
What is the Louisiana Statewide Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor
Agreement (SHA)?
This agreement is designed to enhance conservation of the endangered
red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) through voluntary habitat improvements
by private landowners in Louisiana. This 99-year agreement between
the Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
(LDWF), signed in January 2005, will result in conservation of RCWs,
while providing Safe Harbor assurances to participating non-federal
landowners throughout the state. The Service, LDWF, Louisiana Forestry
Association, and various other partners/stakeholders cooperated
in developing this agreement, and to date, 4 landowners, with a
total of approximately 216,000 acres, have announced their immediate
intentions to enroll in this SHA. Interested landowners should contact
either the Lafayette Field Office (337/291-3100), or Mr. Eric Baka,
LDWF Safe Harbor Coordinator (225/765-2359).
What is the Louisiana Pine Snake Candidate Conservation Agreement
(CCA)?
This agreement, signed in 2003, is a conservation agreement
among Federal, State, and private organizations designed to identify
and establish management and protection guidelines for the Louisiana
pine snake on public and private lands in Texas and Louisiana. The
pine snake, a candidate for Federal listing, historically occurred
in the longleaf pine ecosystem of northwest Louisiana and east-central
Texas. It is currently known to occur in only a few locations in
each state and this agreement would cover all known occurrences
on Federal lands. This agreement provides a means for all partners
to promote the conservation of the Louisiana pine snake in an effort
to preclude the need to list this species. Landowners that are interested
in participating in this CCA are urged to contact the Lafayette
Field Office at 337/291-3100.
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